Bangs McCoy

He volunteered

Rees gave his first talk today in Primary, on the subject of baptism. The way it is set up in our Primary right now, children are never assigned a talk, scripture, etc unless they specifically volunteer. I’m not sure why - I clearly remember being assigned stuff when I was growing up, regardless of my desire to do it. Anyway, he volunteered, and he did a great job. Bryan helped him write the talk, which was loosely based on a talk Bryan gave at his nephew’s baptism. Rees read it almost entirely by himself. I helped with a few words he struggled with, which must have been nerves because he practiced beforehand. The talk had three parts:

(while holding a picture of Jesus being baptized) “One of the great commandments is to be baptized. Even though Jesus was perfect, he was baptized because he wanted to do everything our Heavenly Father commands.”

(while holding a picture of a boy being baptized in a modern-day font) “When we are baptized, we promise to follow Heavenly Father and keep his commandments. We also promise to stand as a witness of God so that when people see us, they will be reminded of God. After you are baptized, you will be a representative of our Heavenly Father. After being baptized, we start a new life. Baptism is a symbol of rebirth - we go down under the water and leave our old life there. When we come up out of the water, we are reborn.”

(while holding a picture of Jesus raising the dead) “After Jesus was baptized, he began to do all the wonderful things that he did. It marked the beginning of his mission. It should be the same for us - we should be an example to all our friends, neighbors, and those we come in contact with, just as Jesus did. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”

He didn’t seem very nervous and he got a lot of compliments, which made him happy. And Grandpa B made a special trip to watch, too.

We went to my parents’ house in the evening for dinner with everyone (including Great-Grandma Hansen), since Kathi and kids are in town. We ate ham, my twice-baked potatoes, salad, veggies, etc. The kids had so much fun playing. Michael also took a family portrait in the middle of the vegetable garden. Later, when Rees found out that Thomas would be staying with Grandma and Grandpa H tonight, he immediately asked my mom if he could stay over too. Their plan is to sleep outside in a “tent” Bryan made them out of chairs and a tarp. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

1 comment August 10th, 2008

Apricot jam

Yesterday my mom asked me to bring her a bag of apricots so she could make freezer jam. For some reason that didn’t sound too appetizing to me. Since freezer jam isn’t cooked, I was picturing weird chunks of peel in it. Apricot peels aren’t bad, but I don’t want peely jam. Then my mom reminded me that my Grandma Hansen has been making apricot freezer jam forever. This brought back memories of visiting my Grandma when I was a kid, and her making me a hot breakfast, whatever I requested (usually either pancakes or french toast). So yummy. There was never syrup, just butter and three kinds of freezer jam - light red (strawberry), dark red (raspberry) and orange (apparently this was apricot). She always used berries from Grandpa’s farm or from Bear Lake to make jam.

So anyway, I took the apricots to my mom, and she explained that you blend the apricots to make them smooth. This makes much more sense. Today I made a batch and it is tasty - not peely at all.

1 comment July 29th, 2008

Glen Canyon Dam

Today we took a tour of Glen Canyon Dam. Since my dad works for the Feds, he set us up with the “hard-hat” tour! It was really cool. I was still worried about Jamie after yesterday, and my mom had taken the tour before, so she graciously offered to stay up top with him while Rees and I took the tour with the family.

Our guide was great - he let Rees really participate by pushing various buttons, swiping his security badge, and managing the hard hats. We got to see turbines, cranes, the infamous patch of bluegrass, and enter areas of the dam not seen in the “normal” tour. I have lots of pictures, maybe I’ll post them eventually.

We had a picnic lunch on the shore of Lake Powell. Afterward, Dad & Ted went kayaking and my mom and I headed to Monument Valley to find our rooms and let the kids nap. We are staying at Goulding’s Lodge tonight. By the time I got my reservations, the lodge was full, so I ended up reserving a single-wide trailer at the campground. It is awesome. Clean, tons of space, an extra bedroom, full kitchen, laundry, flatscreen TV and DVD player, and wireless internet. Love it! We had a quick dinner at the dining room before heading to bed early.

Add comment March 25th, 2008

Hansen family bonding

Today the Hansen family (sans kids & Sarah) went to see U2 3D together, at my dad’s urging. It was really cool. I have seen U2 live on tour three times - PopMart (Rice Stadium, 1997), Elevation (Delta Center, 2001), and Vertigo (Delta Center, 2005).

The movie very closely approximates the feeling of a live U2 concert. Yes, it’s preachy. Yes, Bono is melodramatic. Yes, I loved every minute of it.

Add comment March 1st, 2008